St. Lawrence Seaway clears final ships, closes for season

MASSENA -- All commercial vessels that were held up by a ship that had to be freed from Snell Lock have passed through and the St. Lawrence Seaway is now closed for the season.

The Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation says that Tuesday morning, all commercial vessels cleared the U.S. locks for the navigation season.

As of Sunday night, three of the five vessels waiting to depart the U.S. sector of the Seaway System, the Mitiq, the Beatrix and the Billesborg, successfully transited Snell Lock.

Late Monday night, all three vessels arrived safely in Montreal. Earlier Tuesday morning, the remaining two vessels, the Federal Biscay and the Pacific Huron, safely transited Snell Lock and are now underway towards Montreal assisted by the Canadian Coast Guard ice breaker, Martha L. Black, and accompanied by two tug boats.

The Federal Biscay was icebound inside Snell Lock for several days, holding up the other four boats, and was freed over the weekend.

“All transits through Snell Lock were completed without incident,” SLSDC said in a prepared statement.

There are no commercial vessels remaining in the U.S. sector of the Seaway and that sector is officially closed for the 2017 navigation season. Once all the vessels have departed the Canadian sector of the Seaway through the Canadian St. Lambert Lock, the entire Montreal/Lake Ontario section of the Seaway will be closed for the season, SLSDC said.